230. Happy Ever After


    Juliet


    Chris, Silvanus, and I joined Chris and traveled to Earth for a few days. I had several reasons why I wanted to go with them: First, I wanted to talk to Bertram and hopefully find out where Chris’s mother was. Second, I wanted to see how things would be if Marcus took over and Qadir was out of the picture. Thirdly—because Chris asked me to. Although initially, he was okay with the time-traveling aspect of what was going on, after a few days, his brain caught up, and he had a million questions. I couldn’t tell Silvanus and Ira Satya was alive before I knew for sure she was… It would alter the course of things too much if they got involved, and I would’ve had enough to deal with it.


    We arrived at the diner, and Jessy and Nevin were there to greet us. I pulled the old man aside, “Did you tell anyone?” He shook his head. “Good… The compound will think we are all riphaths. I want to keep it that way.” He absently shrugged. Strange. “What is it?”


    “Jabin took over the compound.” I drew in a frustrated breath and pouted my lips in exasperation. Of course, he did. That’s what happened last time.


    I spun around, “Where is Marcus, Jessy?”


    “At the house.”


    “Will you take us, please.” For a moment, Jessy didn’t know what to do. Never had a woman given him an order before. Obviously, he looked to his father.


    Nevin laughed at me, “No one said it was going to be easy.”


    I groaned audibly. Could all my timelines not have been as easy as Michael’s…


    Jessy felt a little left out, “What is going on, sir?” Urgh, Jessy calls his father ‘sir?’ Gag.


    “Nothing!” we all chimed together.


    Ira took this as his cue to step up and opened his arms. “Hell, yes!”


    “Hey, I don’t know where to travel to!” Chris complained.


    “Silvanus’s training starts now! Bye, see you when I see you.”


    “Some wife you make.”


    Ira and I dropped down in the foyer of Qadir’s home. We both looked down at how close we were to landing on some poor servant whose head was plastered to the floor. I slid out of Ira’s arms, looking for the cause of this mess. Every last member of the house, men, women, wives, and children, were stuffed into the space. Ira bent down, “I don’t think this is working.”


    The only person standing upright was Marcus. A little to his left was Jabin bent at the waist. Marcus’s eyes were surprisingly big, staring at Ira. I thought nothing could make him gawk. I lifted a hand and gestured with ‘Spock’ fingers, “We come in peace.”


    “We are from the planet Zoltan in a galaxy far, far away.”


    It was my turn to gawk at Ira, “How?”


    He chuckled.


    Jabin turned his head still half down to the floor and glowered at the two of us. I was rather glad I never met the man. Kubra’s father was a little too straight-laced for my tastes.


    “Who are you? And what do you want?” Marcus asked.


    “We are requesting an audience with Your Excellency,” I said. Marcus visibly flinched. So it was too much all around. See, the timing of our first timeline was much better than shoving it all into ten years. Note to self. Take your time when you decide what you want to do. I so desperately wanted to take over and tell Marcus what to do. No, Juliet. Wait and see what he will do. If he will do anything. How long have all these people been waiting for him to make a decision?


    After a few minutes, “Okay, really, Juliet…” Ira whispered.


    “You want that waterstone or not?”


    The man dropped his manifestation, walked carefully over the bodies to the stairs, and pushed Jabin out of the way, “You are freaking everyone out! Go home and tell your boss to get off his ass and actually leave his planet for a change.”


    “He wants to, as soon as Marcus goes home.”


    Ira turned to Marcus, “You don’t want to go home?”


    Marcus’s eyes drifted to a woman on the floor. Oh, Agatha. Makes sense. Only two women in his life could make him take a stand.


    I raised a hand and waved, “I have a solution… Agatha…” I made my way through the crowd. “Will you please get up?” She hesitated. “Don’t worry, if anyone touches you… I will… uhm, give them to Silvanus.” I bent down and pulled her up. She was stiff as a door. Her eyes seemed worried, “Why don’t I take you to… uh… friends of mine…” I leaned in closer. “I’ll take you to Sam. Will b put the two of you at ease?” She nodded. “Good! Marcus. You can entrust your mother with me. I will keep her safe until you can decide what you want to do.”


    Carefully, Agatha and I made our way to the door. “Kubra! With me!” The man bent on one knee looked up at me. “Yes, you… With me! Chop, chop!” The men murmured and complained. I rolled my eyes. “Ira, I’ll meet up with you later.”


    “I’ll be here.”


    I walked down—dreary lane—to Marcus’s sad little plot of land. The two behind me followed. My room was the only spot inside the confines of Qadir’s home where we’d be able to privately travel from. “Kubra, where is Michael?”


    “I don’t know?” I pulled out my plate and sent our coordinates—and requested to be sent to the farm. Nothing happened. Any minute now. Ugh, how did it work back then? How did one bypass clearance on Earth? Did they really have to fill in a three-page report for every travel. “Phone!”


    Kubra handed me his phone. I scrolled through his contacts and pressed my uncle’s name. It rang two times. “Samuel.”


    “Uncle Sam, Juliet here.” I put my finger on my lips. My uncle was very loud on the other end; I had to take the phone away from my ear. Sam was cross, excited, and complaining. “Sam…! Sam…!” He calmed down. “Will you please open this plate for me? I need to go where I want to go. I’m sure you and the master have spoken, and yes, it’s all true.” I waited a few moments. “Done? Thank you. See you in a second.”


    I traveled the three of us out, tapping into one of the bigger teleporters. Again, we landed in a foyer. Guess it was polite to have only one place available in a stranger’s home, however, we were facing the wrong way and had to turn. I did and looked right into Louis’s face. “Oh, no.”


    Sam walked to Agatha and slowly lifted her veil over her head. She smoothed down her hair a little awkwardly.


    [ Louis! Louis! Louis! ]


    “Stop that!”


    I gestured to the couple, [ She can’t speak… It’s going to be a lot for her to be able to communicate for the first time. ] Louis, with a quizzical brow, read Agatha’s thoughts and hurriedly moved towards her. [ Thank You! ]


    It took the adults ten minutes to calm down, greet, reunite, and meet each other for the first time. It took me another half hour to spill my guts to Sam and Agatha while the others talked somewhere.


    “Why do you think Bertram would know?”


    “He and Qadir are… were thick as thieves… I want to do this one myself… So I’ll leave you now.”


    “You don’t want to see your parents.”


    “They’re here?”


    “Yes, they never left.”


    “Really… But no, I have things to do and have to get back to Zoreah… Tell them to come visit.” Sam looked guiltily away.


    “You might as well tell them everything… It’s not real.”


    “I don’t know why you have to do this!”


    “Well, I still don’t know why you had to create a coup on En-gannim, get banished, and the only way to free yourselves was to find me, someone who would really love me, either, so, let’s leave the finger pointing for another life.” Sam looked to Agatha as if asking permission, “She can’t tell me!”


    “Fine… I’ll tell you in another life… Go do what you have to do… But if and only if you ever decide to make this permanent… You better come and talk to me first… I’m sure you didn’t tell me what you were up to, or I would’ve locked you up.”


    “Pfft. I wasn’t born yesterday,” I flung open the door. Louis grabbed my ear and pulled. He dragged me, whimpering, into the next room and slammed the door.


    I hit his arm away, “Ow!”


    “Sit down.”


    “No!”


    He manifested and, through the powers that be, made my body obey and forced me down on the couch. How was this possible? To test it, I tried my luck. Louis opened his mouth and couldn’t speak. He stuttered and sputtered. Amazed, I laughed. He pointed a finger at me. Got a little red in the face. “You look funny, so angry. If you calm down and treat me a little better, I might let you get a word in.” Louis squeezed his eyes shut, lifted a hand, and rubbed at his brow. He finally dropped his manifestation. “I’m sorry,” I said for whatever I did wrong.


    “You have no regard for anyone—.” His speech stopped mid-sentence.


    [ Try again ]


    He sighed and nodded. I let him go. “Is it all true?”


    [ Stupid Question. I can literally make you stop speaking. ]


    He swallowed hard, “Do you understand how hard this is for the rest of us.”


    My anger was instantly kindled. My manifestation immediate. “In the real world, you left me. Walked out… I don’t want to hear about how hard it is for you!”


    “Why do you look like that?”


    “You look like this too… It was us, and then it was me and you, and I had to make decisions by myself.” I lifted my hands into the air. “And here we are… This is what happens when you— Agh, forget about it. I’m here for Chris! And I am not going to—” I turned away from him.


    “Waste another life on me… You must not love me at all.”


    Appalled, I stood to my feet. [ Not love you! ] Helplessly, my chest tightened. I never liked being falsely accused, and my monster didn’t like it either. Maybe I should pop his shoulder out again and make him behave... Did it really have to come down to violence? Louis took a few steps toward me and grabbed my shoulders. “Show me everything!” I shook my head, the outline of his body blurring in my creature vision. “Please show me… I want to know.” Where would I begin? What did he want to see? It would take too long.


    The door slowly opened. I looked past Louis’s shoulder. Michael stood in the door. I pulled out of Louis’s grasp and headed for the arms I knew would never push me away.


    Louis yelled inaudibly and stormed past both of us, “No! This is not why a woman has more than one husband!”


    After Michael held me, kissed my hair, and stroked my back, Kubra and I traveled to see Bertram. We walked into his office at the compound station of all the watchers, and—not withholding my astonishment at the sight of so many men looking at TVs and what Michael had to go through—I got the shock of my life. Charlene’s father was sitting in a chair across from Carl’s father. “No, no, no. If you tell me Chris and Charlene are brother and sister, I’m going to… to… I don’t know what! But is her mother Satya or not?”


    The two men stood, looking from me to Kubra.


    ***


    The first year Chris was away from Zoreah, I got a chance to figure out where the water and life stone really was. Only when I turned seventeen did Ahasuerus deem it time to come into the Origin City, and only then could we put our heads together to figure out what had happened to it.


    Ahasuerus’s great-grandfathers were friends with Avrio’s great-grandfather around three thousand years ago. En-gannim was a desolate place; the two decided to steal the stone from Zoreah. It took them hundreds of years to invade the riphaths and figure out where Ira’s father had planted it into fertile soil. They did find it, but as soon as they picked it up, the water stopped producing. It was what the other spot on Zorea was for on the other side of the planet across from the city. Another magical location on our maps. The water would drain into the soil and through tunnels and crevices like on Earth, kept going and moving all over the planet, filling the ground from the bottom up. Back then, Zoreah was like a forested haven with fields and herds running around.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Ira took over from his father and had to do this once a year, figuring it out through test and trial; the vamps had followed him, ambushed him, and stole it. Between the two men, one chose to be ruler with a stone, and the other decided to live in luxury with another. Avrio’s ancestors who possessed the stone did the same on En-gannim—on every island when they needed water for the foreseeable future. Personally, they would feed the ground and fill the crust. So it meant Avrio probably knew where the stone was and could easily have given it to Ian. It meant they could still kill us with it, or Ian didn’t know because his father died before he could tell him.


    Avrio never went off planet once, and Ahasuerus had left him to manage the stone for their combined lineage alliance. Now that I knew even En-gannim’s water could run out, finding the stone was more than solving another problem or mystery.


    “No wonder you had to trade water with Brylee... Avrio decided to stop feeding each island and forced you to buy water from one source. On his island!”


    Ahasuerus sighed, “Yes, we live in a supernatural world with a lot of power hidden away.”


    “So, how did Avrio do it?”


    “Sporadically—different times of the year—all in secret. No one knew besides me and him.”


    “The stone could be anywhere on En-gannim? Well, then, how do we find it?”


    “I know a little girl who can walk around invisible and spy on people.”


    I stood to my full height, “I’d have to follow him for a whole year?”


    “What does it matter if you’re eighteen or nineteen when Chris returns?”


    I laughed, “It doesn’t matter. He’ll never know the difference… I guess I’ll see you guys in five years... I want Jessy as my liaison… I can’t watch Avrio twenty-four-seven, and I can’t put watcher tech on him.”


    “You can.”


    “He’ll hear it.”


    Ahasuerus shook his head, “A side effect of Earth.”


    “Then why didn’t you just tech him?”


    “He scanned himself three times a day.”


    Wow, power does mean everything. “But now you’re gone, and he knows you won’t tell Marcus about all your secrets yet… Hey, that’s why you never fought Avrio for the water rites!”


    Ahasuerus laughed, “Yes, I needed him. He would never have revealed the location!”


    So, I went on my mission, and with the help of Jessy, who had to watch him with me in shifts, we found out where Avrio hid the rock. The day we found it, he literally traveled to a hundred different locations on En-gannim and scanned himself before every travel. He cursed—a lot—disconnected the watcher tech, and at the end of the day, at around his seventy-sixth travel, he ended up on Marcus’s Island. I was so taken aback. It was why that particular island was so beautiful and full of plant life and beasts. It was larger, hilly, and a little different than the rest of the planet’s clean lines. I loved it there! The stone not only gives water but changes even the environment.


    Avrio dug in a specific spot—one no one would ever have thought of—and because the island was uninhabited, it was never found.


    After Chris came back, I took a few years to have babies and enjoy our lives together. It wasn’t fun going through giving birth for no reason. My one consequence of having kids so young and easily. Anyway, there was one thing left I needed to talk to the men about. So I sat all five down in the meeting room on the highest point on Zoreah.


    With Chris’s apathy, I didn’t know if he would even care to find his mother… Mainly because she could’ve revealed herself at any time. I sat across from him and took his hand in mine, “Chris, while I was here… I found out your mother is still alive.”


    Silvanus was behind Ahasuerus in a second, his claws around his neck, “Talk.”


    Caleb had told me how Silvanus acted after he found out about Satya. Looking at him made me think there was more going on between the two, “Tsk tsk, you would swear you were in love with her, and Chris was your child, not Ira’s.”


    “Nonsense, she is my sister. I was the only riphath who ever had a sibling. We were especially bonded because we were twins… Not identical.” No, definitely not identical… Charlene’s mother was beautiful. And come to think a little strange… No wonder. A smile formed on my lips. I was still so happy after finding out Charlene and Chris were brother and sister. Silvanus had a niece. That was why he was so close to Ira and Chris in every way possible. Why didn’t they tell us? I looked at Chris, forgetting about the two men who would give us the best fight ever. “She was on Earth my whole life?” I nodded. How hurt he must be. Chris had been alone for so long; he had no one his whole life. Although she was there in a way… Looking in. “Why?”


    “I don’t know, but we will find out. I know her, and I also made sure they were okay after the war broke out…” Chris looked at the two men having a heated debate. “Silvanus! Ahasuerus didn’t have anything to do with it… I know where she is. And even with everything going on, she is safe and has been happy.”


    Silvanus let go of the vamp and sat down. He sniffled and rubbed over his eyes. I looked to Ira to see if he had any feelings for the mother of his child. For the first time, Ira showed another side of him. He was not impenetrable. Loss. Grief. Gain. Relief. For them, thirty years meant nothing. It would be as if she never left.


    Several years later, while Chris and I were living our best lives in the Origin City, Marcus came to meet with Ahasuerus one evening. I had seen him a few times throughout my investigation on En-gannim. He still didn’t know I was a vampire or about our past. It was probably better that Michael and Louis didn’t tell him. I tried to steer clear of all of them, but that night, we were hosting a feast. One of the protectors outside had caught something scarce, and it was always a good day when there would be music—two drinks—and I could initiate some dancing.


    Small fires were lit in sandy clay pots. Plastered seats were cushioned with pelt-covered pillows. The common hall area in the city was the only place where alcohol flowed and where everyone gathered at night. Ahasuerus and I were in a serious discussion when I looked up and into Louis’s eyes. I missed him so much and smiled brightly up at him. I wasn’t so angry anymore. I laughed lightly at my approaching three men. Even Michael was there… It was time to go. It had only been five years, and Chris would not be happy.


    Marcus still had no idea and seemed confused by my happiness at seeing them. Ahasuerus hit me on my arm a little too hard. I held back my lovestruck joy. “I see where the problem lies,” he whispered.


    “You old man are too clever—” Two small kids pounced me into the sand, trying to wrestle with me in their own little way. Caleb was already four, and Sammy was three. They were the best of friends. We were the happiest little family. I didn’t need to fight for long. The old man would jump in and help me chase them all over the place. He loved the kids and was like another person around a child.


    The two of us joined the group with a kid each on a lap. I searched the crowd to see where Chris was. He was at a table with Jamal and Selena. My jaw flexed involuntarily. I bit my lip angrily but kept myself in check. I didn’t want to manifest and create an incident again in my last moments. Selena came into the city around the same time we did. The first time I saw her, I saw red. I attacked her, and we fought like the two rival species we were. We both got whipped for fighting at all, and Sung had a mean swing. Louis’s gaze followed mine, “No one knows you’re not a riphath.”


    My eyes snapped to his, and so did Ahasuerus’s. Marcus seemed surprised. I glanced around to see if anyone would’ve heard him. “You keep your mouth shut, boy,” Ahasuerus chastised his nephew.


    “And his back. Thanks a lot, Louis. Do you know how long it takes me to get your uncle to be the best he can be?”


    “You should learn to behave.”


    I rolled my eyes, “Here, I’m not under vamp rules… What? Have you gotten used to ordering women to walk… talk… and—” Ahasuerus jabbed me in the ribs and gestured to Sammy. “Thank You.” He nodded. “Anyway, Jack and I are old friends… showed me your feed for entertainment… You do know you were watched every second of your whole life! Maybe I should tell your uncle about the last woman you slept with!” Louis’s eyes widened. I chuckled angrily, “Don’t worry, I didn’t learn anything.”


    Louis laughed, “In the end, it’s just—”


    “Don’t say it! Take it back.”


    He sighed, “I take it back.”


    “I know you have a lot more feeling in you than… this show you put on,” I gestured to his person.


    “What’s the point? You seem to be ruling us all.”


    “Someone once told me, ‘It’s all about making one vow to yourself and not for others.’”


    “And sticking to it.”


    “Yeah, once you make a decision, there is no changing your mind.”


    “No matter how hard it gets.”


    “You are no coward, sir. There is only one thing I don’t like about you... You’re not good at all and downright—”


    “Morally corrupt!” he finished my sentence for me. Louis was all up in my mind. “We make the perfect couple.”


    Ahasuerus laughed. I glanced at him and giggled, “Like not all vampires are.”


    “So you really are?” Marcus asked. I nodded, smiling at him in a whole different way. Desperation was more like it. Marcus’s head tilted seductively as he stared at my mouth.


    “Now I see… You never did want to say,” Ahasuerus said, interested.


    If he only knew about Michael… I looked at Michael, who was strangely quiet. I still couldn’t decide. They all followed my gaze. “Michael?” Marcus wanted an answer from the human. He was so out of the loop.


    Michael held my eyes. It was another good moment. “I took over Bertram’s position if it helps you at all.” Oh my, Michael was so different before he branded me. I loved him so much.


    “How are the watchers doing on Earth?”


    “Bored now that Qadir isn’t there… Marcus shares the technology, and we are more like customs officers.”


    “Thank You,” I said with a smile… “So Louis, where did your family decide would be a good fit?”


    “After my cousin died. Samuel and I went to the compound. Met Marcus, and I’ve been going back and forth.”


    “And Soren?” I looked at Marcus. It took him a moment to realize we met that day in the bookstore. He smiled, and his gaze was drifting between his grandfather and me. Marcus was slowly putting together the pieces. A little too late. “Are you angry?”


    “No. You saved my mom. How could I be angry.”


    “Thank You, it means a lot you saying that… So, any wives, Marcus. You didn’t perhaps marry Avrio’s daughter after all.”


    His lip pulled up in disgust, “No, thank you. I took Louis with me, and after that, I killed both Avrio and Ian… Helps to have a mind reader with you.” Thank goodness he did it after I figured out where the stone was.


    “Not really,” Louis chimed in. “Juliet is keeping a tight lid on her thoughts,”


    [ I’m not even trying. ]


    I put my focus back on Marcus, “You brought Louis with… to read me? You know something is up… I’m flattered. But no… Louis won’t be getting inside me for a while.” Louis choked. I laughed at him. Out of the corner of my eye, Chris got up from his chat with Jamal. My smile fell. Selena had put her hand on his arm. “I did get that!” I passed Sammy to Louis. “I will f—ing kill her.” I got up and rushed the blond whether I was going to get whipped or not.


    ***


    Chris


    I shook my head and sighed, meeting Ahasuerus’s eye. He waved a dismissive hand in the air. “Are you going to help?”


    “Leave them. We need some sport.” Rodrigo said, coming out from his hole in the ground. The sun had finally set. In the beginning, when I was still on Earth, Juliet sent me regular letters to tell me all she was doing. She was seventeen and in the city with two men. I was jealous, not knowing who they were. I laugh at myself now. Jamal was a bigger issue—the way the two flirted with one another. I wasn’t even allowed to look at Selena. Why did the woman always have to touch me when Juliet was close by? It’s like she wanted to create an incident. Bored with her brood of brats around her ankles from three different men.


    No, Juliet had nothing to worry about. I was a one-woman kind of guy. And Juliet kept true to her promise; she made my celibacy up to me. After Selena came into the city, Juliet locked me in a room for days… Hence, little Caleb… And then we became very good friends and did everything together. Most days ended with us looking up at the stars.


    I sat down with the new face. “Louis Du Pont,” he stretched out his hand.


    I absently took it, taken aback by his name. Juliet had been having horrible dreams and calling out to a ‘Louis’ in her sleep. It bothered me; we were all her husbands, and even though she was with me, she was still troubled about him… I didn’t want to talk to her about it. It took her a few days to even out after every nightmare. Louis’s gaze flickered over to Juliet. So he’s the mind reader.


    “How is she so strong yet so young?” Marcus asked.


    All of us pointed at Rodrigo, “It’s a very long story,” I said.


    Louis was looking at Rodrigo. Well, s—! Although Louis knew what was going on… Living through it was different. And Rodrigo had a lot going on in that head of his. Their wordless interchange went on. Louis’s color changed, and he abruptly stood. “Juliet! We have a problem,” I called out.


    Silvanus had come and gone, and Rodrigo was taken away. Louis looked at Ahasuerus and then at me and Marcus. “Now Louis, calm down.” Ahasuerus tried to reason.


    “Calm down!? She’s playing god with our lives… Choosing one of us!”


    Juliet finally made her way over a big gash over her eye. Selena was hobbling off with a smile on her face. Juliet felt her jaw and tried to catch up to what happened, “What? Who called me? I had a good chance of winning.”


    I was used to everything by now, “Rodrigo happened.” Juliet had told me she wasn’t sure what to do, and if our lives didn’t work out, could we really blame her for having the option.


    Her eyes darted to Louis. “I forgot one detail… Oh crap… How much did he ramble.”


    Louis’s hands were moving, and his French was so foreign to me. I had forgotten I once lived on Earth. She answered him with fluency; Louis at least listened for a moment. Then he went on in lifted tones and animosity. Sammy was still in his arms, being jostled. “Not in front of my kids!” she yelled. Louis looked down at the little girl. Juliet had said the two had a connection. She was more his daughter than mine. Louis handed her to me and walked off to the bar. How must it be to read minds? Know everything.


    “Why do I feel like I’m the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on,” Marcus sounded a little pathetic.


    And yet, when I came to En-gannim to test my training with Silvanus, Marcus had me out of my manifestation in one minute. His looks were very deceiving? “It’s nothing… Some history on Earth. I think.”


    “You can say that again. Whore.”


    Juliet was a very jealous person. Louis swore from the bar area. Juliet stuck her tongue out to him. “If you keep this up, I might sleep with Selena.”


    Juliet laughed, and she kissed Sammy’s cheek. “You can try… But the first murder will be on your head… And don’t think I haven’t killed for love—” Juliet’s retort ended abruptly. She closed her eyes, doubled over, and wailed. Her hand frantically clutched her heart. “I… Love you, Chris.”


    “No. Five years is not enough… You said I get ten!”


    “I’m sad to say your son is a little smarter than I am.”


    I pulled her against me. Her legs bent with every agonizing pain, and finally, she crumpled into my arms. “Please stay.”


    “Oh, I don’t think that’s the problem. It’s because I want to.”


    “Let her go, Chris.” Ahasuerus’s voice was stern.


    Juliet looked up at Ahasuerus, “I can’t do it… I don’t want to.”


    “You have to! Think about Marcus.” Juliet sobbed and pulled into an agonizing groan. “Tell her, Marcus!” Ahasuerus ordered.


    “I have no idea what’s going on!”


    “No wonder you’re here,” his grandfather chastised in a condescending whisper.


    Juliet laughed through her pain. Guttural, beautiful Juliet.